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Kairi stood with her face to the breeze, arms resting on the railing of the sailboat as she took a deep breath. The sea air this far out was different than when it blew up to shore. Riku was at mast, busy securing the sails so that they wouldn’t drift too much farther out. They had oars just in case the wind decided to go against their favor but it was still important they didn’t end up stranded at sea. “It’s so peaceful out here.” She murmured. Today was just her and Riku, but she was already thinking about bringing Xion or Roxas out here. Maybe both. Isa would probably enjoy the peace of it too, especially at night. “It is. I’m glad we finally decided to do this, too. Although I still think we should have named it the SS Kairi-is-The-Best.” This managed to get a giggle out of her as she tugged her sunhat firmly and turned around to lean back. Riku was watching her with a smile on his face as he finished tying up the last of the rigging. “What, I thought you’d be all for naming it The Highwind?” It was Riku’s turn to laugh, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “It wouldn’t be the same though. I don’t mind it, it’s just…” “Yeah.” The reply was soft. Riku came to her side and leaned back against the rails with her. Arms folded over his chest, he stared up into the sky with an expression that spoke of tranquility. Kairi leaned against him and sighed in content. It felt like it had been forever since they’d just done so much as exist near one another. It was good to get away from everything together. She was sure Riku felt the same as he shifted to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Really though, Kairi. You didn’t have to buy this. We could’ve settled for a raft.” “No way!” She exclaimed, raising her head to look at him. He was still smiling and it made her chest warm; She knew it was directed at her. “We deserve a proper boat. Don’t tell me you’d actually rather be on a wooden raft.” Riku made a face like he was considering it and Kairi chuckled and shoved his side. He finally cracked a grin. “No, I think I do like this better. Plus we brought actual food.” “We did!” Kairi had admittedly forgotten about the cooler she and Riku had packed the night before. It sat near the helm, two fishing rods resting against it. They’d brought them in the event they emptied the cooler and had some spare time. Bringing home fresh fish would be a real treat, especially if they could get the group together and grill them on the beach. The thought made Kairi’s mouth water slightly. She always took hers with lime and salt. “You want to eat now?” Riku moved away, and Kairi shivered slightly. It was a little cool out here. She’d appreciated the warmth of Riku at her side. “Do you want to? I wouldn't mind going for a dip first.” The water was so clear out past the sandbars that Kairi could actually see the bottom. Fish and kelp and even a sea turtle were all swimming around down there. It had been so long since Kairi had deep dived-- she wondered if she could even still hold her breath that long. “You want to go swimming? Why’d we even bring a boat then.” Riku joked. He had tugged out a water bottle and uncapped it. Taking a seat on the lid of the cooler, he crossed his ankles and propped his elbows on his knees. Kairi paced over and made a grabby hand for the bottle. He arched an eyebrow at her and took a sip. “I’ve never gotten to swim this far out before. Usually we would only go out to the sandbars.” “We only went out to the sandbars because our parents said we couldn’t go past them.” “Fair point. Gimme!” It was then she snatched the water bottle away; Riku mocked betrayal as Kairi guzzled half the bottle down and passed it back to him with a satisfied sigh. He muttered some vague complaint under his breath before taking the bottle back and capping it. Kairi jittered in place as Riku stood and shed his shirt, stopping to look into the waters below. “Really? What happened to the boat, huh? If we both leave it may just float off without us, Riku!” The quip was taken in stride, Riku rolling his eyes and shaking his head at her. “I figured you wouldn’t want to swim alone. Unless you were planning to replace me with a fish.” “Oh, definitely.” She answered, in the middle of yanking her own shirt over her head. She tossed it aside and snorted softly when she saw that Riku was folding his clothes. He’d taken off his pants as well, sporting the boxers Aqua had gotten him. They had little Mickey heads on them. It was cute. She was a little surprised to see him wearing them though. “What, you didn’t pack swim trunks?” The tease glanced off Riku as he waved Kairi away dismissively. The last thing to come off was the brace Riku had taken to wearing on his dominant hand. He flexed the muscles of his wrist tentatively before deeming the hand fit for use. “I hadn’t realized we were going to be chatting up the wild life before we caught them. You’ll have to excuse me.” Kairi adjusted the straps of her two-piece, a cute frilly swimsuit that happened to have a twin that belonged to Xion. After seeing Xion try to charge into the water fully clothed, Kairi had seen fit to get her a proper swimsuit. “You’re excused!” Shucking her shorts off and setting aside her sunhat, Kairi clamored over the railing of the ship. Riku make a disgruntled noise that stopped her from just diving in. “Kairi, at least get the ladder out. Otherwise we won’t be able to get back up into the boat.” Ah, right. She considered this before smiling at him and pushing off the side of the boat. Keeping her legs straight she plunged down easily, bubbles drifting through the short locks of her hair. When she broke the surface of the water she shook her head to and fro and sent droplets flying everywhere. Riku grunted from somewhere above her, in the middle of descending the ladder the proper way. “Come on in, Riku! The water feels great.” “Yeah, yeah, give me a second. I’m making sure the ladder is secured properly.” “What, you weight testing it? Hmm?” Riku’s mouth pinched as he laughed through his nose. It was then that he dropped the short distance down to the water, causing a splash that hit Kairi square in the face. She spluttered the sea water out of her mouth as Riku laughed. “Rude!” A splash of water in retaliation was dodged as Riku ducked under the surface. Before Kairi could think to move, her scooped her right up and out of the water. She balanced on his shoulder only momentarily before toppling off and back into the water. Even under the water she could hear Riku laughing, clear and bright. “You fall for that every time.” He teased, backstroking away from her with a smug look on his face. “Yeah, sure, whatever!” Kairi kicked her feet choppily, bouncing in the water slightly as she tried to find her old rhythm. It felt like lifetimes ago suddenly that she’d actually swam in the ocean. She took a deep, slow breath and relaxed a bit. In a couple moments she was keeping herself afloat smoothly. “Whatever.” Riku mimicked back, sticking his tongue out at her. It actually caught her off guard and she couldn’t help the startled laugh. Riku kept swimming backwards, keeping an eye on Kairi before turning over and starting a lap around the boat. Curiously, Kairi followed after him. “Are you really doing exercise right now?” She finally asked after the third lap. Riku stopped for a moment and simply floated, breathing heavier. “What? Swimming is great exercise. Aren’t you too? You’ve been following me this whole time.” “Only because I wanted to know what you were doing! I thought maybe we were playing tag.” “That’s still exercise, Kairi.” She made a face at this and huffed. “It doesn’t count as real exercise if you have fun.” Riku looked almost insulted. “That would imply I never exercise then.” Kairi snorted back a laugh and bobbed up out of the water, throwing herself over Riku and using him to as a floatation device. “Oh right, you’re a weirdy who actually likes working out. Forgot about that.” The sun had crawled higher into the sky by this time, dusting Riku’s cheekbones and the rounds of his shoulders with a faint pink. Kairi figured she probably looked somewhat the same. She tapped the tip of his nose, prompting a look of confusion from him before he snuffled softly. “What?” “Just seeing if your sunburn is gonna hurt now or later.” “Great. And I actually put on sunblock this time.” Kairi rest her cheek against Riku’s damp hair and sighed dramatically, petting his cheek. “It’s okay, Riku. We burn together. Like brethren.” There was a moment of silence before RIku practically cackled, ruffling a hand through Kairi’s hair fondly. That was one thing she liked about her hair now that it was so short. People were less afraid to ruffle it. She’d grown very accustomed to hair ruffles now. Maybe she’d keep it short. “Kairi, what? Where’d that come from?” “You and I, Riku, we’re the only ones now. We gotta have each other’s backs. You burn, I burn. You bleed, I bleed.” She had lowered her voice as deep as she could get it and put on a gruff, throaty tone. Riku looked bewildered but amused, using one arm to paddle around aimlessly. “Is this supposed to be your impression of Cid or something?” “No, and that’s mean of you to say, Riku!” She laughed nonetheless, dropping off Riku and swimming around him. “Right, right, my bad. Obviously it’s your Yen Sid impression. How foolish of me.” “I forgot how snide you can be, you little jerk!” She flicked water at him, smile so broad it nearly hurt. Riku was beaming right back at her, eyes bright. It was hard to believe there was a time he’d hid them from her. Her heart clenched momentarily with old pain before relaxing. “Good. Forget again sometime soon, okay? I have an image to uphold.” “Right. Whatever you say there, Mister I-Ate-A-Lightning-Bug-Because-I-Thought-It-Would-Give-Me-Lightning-Powers, sir.” Riku’s face immediately flushed a dark pink. “Oh no, I-- I completely forgot about that. Kairi, how do you even…” “My mind is like a steel trap.” She snapped back, winking. Riku shook his head and blinked a couple of time in sheer disbelief. “Also Waka told me about it one time. You must have been really fun when you were little, Riku.” “It’s not like I wasn’t little not that long ago.” He remarked, sighing over the memory. Kairi shrugged and leaned back slowly. Once she was floating on her back she folded her hands over her stomach. “Littler. A baby. Baby Riku. Baby Riku sounds like a riot. Eating bugs. Taking swords from strangers.” “Hey, you did that last thing too you know.” “Yeah, but like, on accident.” The brilliant blue of the sky almost hurt to look at. Completely uninterrupted by clouds it was like staring into nothing. Kairi didn’t want to look away, ever. Except she did, because there was something even better to look at. That being Riku still smiling at her, the look easy and content. That was definitely worth looking at. “Sure.” A pause. “I think I’m going to go back on the boat for a bit. You coming?” Kairi considered it. She sort of wanted to stay in the water a little longer but she supposed she could always just hop back in after eating. Sitting up, she draped herself over Riku. “Yes, but you absolutely have to carry me.” “What? Why?” “Because you love me and I said so? Did you need another reason?” Riku’s eyes narrowed but his smile remained. He simply shifted Kairi to where she was slung over his back and started to paddle back around to the ladder. Once they were back aboard the boat they simple sat on the railing and drip dried. The silence between them felt easy. Natural. Riku snacked on a packet of cashews while Kairi ate from a bag of mangosteen and finished off the water bottle that had been opened earlier. “So.” Kairi started. “So?” Riku questioned back. “How’d things go with Roxas?” There was a lapse, a moment where Riku’s cheery expression faltered to a more somber one. Kairi felt a pinch of concern. The two had been trying lately, but it was a well known fact that bad blood ran between them; Roxas knew how to hold a grudge. “They went… Okay. He’s different.” “Of course. He’s Roxas.” “Yeah. He is. Still a pain in the ass to fight though.” Kairi snorted and coughed, brow furrowing as she smiled at Riku. “Training?” “More or less, yeah. Aqua sort of… made him my unofficial apprentice. Since I’m the most familiar with his fighting style she said it would make sense for me to help him improve upon it. He didn’t like that very much.” “Really? Wonder why.” “Maybe it has to do with me ‘giving him orders’.” Riku merely shook his head. Kairi hummed thoughtfully. “You two are so strong-willed… At least you’re on speaking terms, right?” Riku laughed dryly and fixed Kairi with an ‘as-if’ look. “Barely. It’s so… awkward. I never know what to say to him. I feel like the only thing I do is apologize to him. That only seems to piss him off.” Kairi couldn’t help that she found some enjoyment in watching Riku and Roxas dance around one another. It was like both of them wanted to be friends but couldn't quite figure out how to do so given their existing history. She hoped they figured it out soon. They were already hilarious together. “Maybe you should just try relaxing then!” “Easy for you to say. You, Namine, and Xion have nothing but love for eachother. It’s almost gross.” “Aw, don’t be like that! You’re just jealous that we get to have girls nights with Olette and Selphie.” “Sure, that's it.” The remark is bland. Kairi pats Riku’s thigh and sighs. “Really though. Roxas isn’t nearly as complicated as you think he is. He’s super sweet, really.” “Yeah, you didn’t knock him out repeatedly.” “Not on purpose anyways.” The comment has Riku look at Kairi funny, unsure what to make of what she’d said without proper context. She’s not elaborating that’s for sure. “We both just need… time. At least I’m pretty sure.” “I think if he can get over his past with Isa then he can get over his past with you too, Riku.” “I think we both know that’s because of Lea.” It’s the truth but Kairi wished he hadn’t pointed it out. Really anyone giving Isa a chance was because of Lea. The guy was absolutely over the moon (no pun intended) for him. Admittedly, Kairi was glad that Isa and her were now on amicable terms. He was funny and surprisingly kind and gentle. “Well, you know what I mean.” She finally says. Riku nods and heaves a heavy sigh. After a moment of silence he speaks again. “What about you? Up to anything aside from romping around?” Kairi giggles and elbows him gently. “Nope! One hundred ten percent romping twenty-five, eight! Maybe a little frolicking too if I’m feeling like I need to mix it up.” “Oh come on, Kairi.” “Okay! I know. There’s not much to talk about, really. Just lots of studying. I never realized that hanging out with Terra would mean so much book reading!” “I thought you liked reading books?” Riku arches an eyebrow at the admission. He hadn’t taken Terra as the terribly studious type. Seemed more hands-on. Maybe he’d been wrong. “In moderation, sure! I’ve learned more about the history of spell configuration than I ever cared to.” That makes Riku laugh in surprise. Kairi shook her head at him and scoffed softly under her breath. “At least you’re learning the proper way, right? I feel like you’ll end up better at magic than me.” “No way, Riku! You’re really good at harnessing magica. Just because I can do it easily doesn’t mean I can do it well. You have… flair.” “Flair…?” “Pizzazz! You make it look so effortlessly cool.” Sheepishly, he rubbed at the side of his nose and looked down. There had been a time when every spell he cast hurt him somehow, even the healing ones. It was strange to hear a compliment when it still felt like he did it wrong. “Well, thanks, I think.” “Well, you’re welcome, I’m sure.” They shared a laugh before falling back into a comfortable silence, wordlessly retrieving their fishing poles and casting them out to sea. This was what they did for the next couple hours. Only occasionally did they talk, mostly about little things that came to mind. They talked in some length about Namine and how she was doing. How happy she seemed, how she was acclimating to being free. When the sun set on them they had managed to catch a bucket of fish and finally run out of things to talk about. Kairi sat atop the cooler of their winnings for the day while Riku unfurled the sails and set them back to shore. When land came back into view, Kairi couldn’t help the twang of sadness as she looked back to the open ocean.